Phikyin & Sherman

international relations
Sherman and Phikyin first met at a party in Kuala Lumpur where Phikyin was living and the groom was visiting family. From there, they exchanged contacts and started a long distance relationship between Kuala Lumpur and Vancouver which lasted for over five years before their wedding.

The groom nervously proposed during a vacation in Paris, in the gardens in front of the Louvre. Phikyin thought Sherman was joking and said, "No ring, no talk.” With that he pulled out the ring, she said yes and the rest was history!

The couple was married on August 8, 2010 at Vancouver’s beautiful Van Dusen Gardens. Sarah Shore of Dreamgroup Productions worked with the couple to create the whimsical Alice in Wonderland themed soirée.

Phikyin wore a Vera Wang gown she purchased in Singapore. The ivory lace gown was accented with a blush pink belt. During the ceremony she wore a Vera Wang veil in her hair, but later switched to a Jennifer Behr diamanté clip for the reception. Her floral diamond earrings were ‘something borrowed’ from her mother.

Sherman wore a grey Calvin Klein tuxedo from The Tux Store.

The bridesmaids dresses were designed by the bride (and bridesmaids) in three shades of peach, in three different designs. They were made by the Mother of the Bride’s tailor in Malaysia.

The couple wanted to embrace the beauty of the gardens and worked with Suzane Lee of Granville Island Florist to bring their garden vision to life.

reflective vows
The outdoor ceremony was peaceful and reflective. “We requested our guests not to take photos and videos during the ceremony so it was a peaceful and beautiful moment because we got to fully concentrate on the ceremony and on each other and why we were getting married and having the wedding in the first place,” Phikyin recalls. A string quartet and a harpist from Musical Occasions played before and during the ceremony.

alice in wonderland
After the couple exchanged ‘I Do’s,’ the ‘Alice and Wonderland’ themed afternoon tea took place in the garden. Guests enjoying playing with the life-size chess board, croquet set, and bocce ball games before the dinner. Other activities included frisby and horseshoes. The theme played itself out in elements throughout the day with desserts iced with “eat me,” and tea cups placed in and amongst the brightly coloured floral in the lounge tent.
Stationery and design elements played a big role in the wedding day. “We used the design from the letterpress invitations, in peach and baby blue with garden elements in as many items as possible,” recalls Phikyin. Sherman and his groomsmen created custom wooden road signs and garden direction signs to match the menus, table numbers, place cards, program book, seating chart, backdrop for their photobooth, vinyl for the bar, food labels, and wish cards for the wishing tree which were all created by Grapevine.

whimsical evening
Two tents provided by Apex Tents were set up on the garden lawn. One was for dining and the other was for lounging and dancing.

Upright Decor transformed the tent using sheer white fabric and an oversized crystal chandelier which hung from the centre. Round tables draped in crisp white linen were surrounded by gold Chiavari chairs. Atop every table sat either a tall glass vase or a low crystal bowl filled with pink and white hydrangea, peach and pink ranunculus and peach rosebuds.

Guests dined on a sumptuous meal catered by Savoury Chef. 

The guests wandered over to the second tent after dinner where the couple danced their first dance together, and Sherman’s college friend, DJ Splyce from LA, got everyone on to the dance floor.

The day was captured on film by Bruce Patterson of Cloud Nine Creative. Patterson created a highlights trailer of the wedding day that was projected in Hong Kong a few weeks later at the couple’s second reception.

The couple honeymooned in seven locations starting in Lima, Peru, on to Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Ecuador, Galapagos, Mexico City, and ending in Los Cabos. ♦